Standing side by side with the stupa, this quaint brick pagoda in the southeast corner of the pagoda is Wenfeng Pagoda. Wenfeng Pagoda is also called Wenxuan Pagoda and Wenxuan Pagoda. The reason why it is called Wenfeng Pagoda is because it was created to supplement Taiyuan Fucheng's "high in the northwest and low in the southeast", which is not conducive to cultural development and is used to "be better than mountains and rivers and create a prosperous literary movement". Mr. and Mr. Luo, experts in the study of ancient pagodas in China, have long been conclusive. As for local people or local chronicles, Wenfeng Pagoda is called "Old Pagoda" or "South Pagoda" because it comes out before the stupa and its location. From the architectural features, Wenfeng Pagoda came out a little earlier than the stupa, but they definitely belong to the works in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and there are many similarities. For example, the planes are all octagonal, and they are all 13-story buildings with a height difference of only 2 cm. According to the survey, Wenfeng Pagoda is slightly lower than the stupa, with a total height of 54.76 meters. Moreover, the structure and shape of the bucket arch, the cutting and grinding of eaves, rafters, columns and squares can be said to be similar. All these reflect their distinctive characteristics as products of the same era. But they also have many differences that can't be ignored, that is, Wenfeng Pagoda has no tower foundation, only one door is opened, there is no niche, there is no inscription of "Amitabha", and the eaves of the pagoda are not decorated with glazed tiles. Here, let's not say that the tower brake shapes of the two towers have nothing in common, that is, the main bodies of the towers are also very different; Wenfeng Tower is almost the same in diameter up and down, basically straight up and down, without obvious points, and its shape is linear; The stupa, on the other hand, has a great difference in diameter from top to bottom, and there are obvious points, especially more prominent than the seven-story building, which makes the whole pagoda look like an arc streamline. These large and small differences undoubtedly reflect the differences in modeling, skills and styles between the designers and builders of the two towers.

As soon as Wenfeng Tower came out, the tower body tilted slightly to the northwest. This has been recorded in the local chronicles of past dynasties, and it has also become the origin and reason for Forden to build the tower. Over the years, there have been many rumors and many people who have studied architecture say that Wenfeng Pagoda leans slightly to the northwest. At the beginning of the tower construction, it was the tower builder who deliberately moved the tower to the northwest side to offset the blowing resistance of the northwest wind, considering that the tower was high and steep and the front of Dongshan Mountain was easily affected by the northwest wind. If it is true that the Wenfeng Pagoda has been tilted to the northwest since its birth, but it has not fallen after 400 years, doesn't it mean that the meticulous design and construction technology of craftsmen at that time were unparalleled?

Inscription on the restoration of the East Tower of Shuangta Temple by diversion

Taiyuan, an ancient city with a long history and splendid cultural relics, is the symbol of Taiyuan, especially the eternal twin towers that stand side by side in the whole country.

Shuangta Temple, also known as Shuangta Temple, was built in Wenxuan Tower during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1599), opposite to the East Tower. In the thirty-ninth year of Wanli, the Li Wen Pagoda was built, commonly known as the West Pagoda. The Petronas Twin Towers, magnificent, stand as before after vicissitudes, and look like welcoming guards from a distance, which is awe-inspiring; Boarding overlooking the city, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers. In the past 100 years, the west tower was damaged in many places, and 1984 was restored with government funding. However, the inclination of the East Tower is getting more and more serious. 1989 1 1 month measured that the center of the tower shifted to the northwest by 2.82m, and increased to 2.86m in 19931month. Moreover, the splitting gap of the tower body exceeds 100 m, with a maximum width of 0.08 m and a maximum length of 5 m. The two sides sank, uneven, with a total difference of 0.68 meters. The situation is critical and worrying! In this regard, the party and the government pay special attention to it. 1May, 1994, decided decisively to repair the East Tower, set up an organization, and formulate a plan, which was organized and implemented by the Municipal Cultural Relics Management Committee. According to its ten-year observation data, leaders were invited to visit, experts participated in six demonstrations, and after several discussions, National Cultural Heritage Administration's suggestion was adopted, and Hangzhou Cao Shi Building Rectification Institute was invited to take charge of rectification, and a contract was signed. 1July, 995 16, Cao Shizhong, the master of rectification, entered the construction site with technicians. Using the method of open caisson, he drilled nine earth wells in the southeast of the tower foundation. After 40 days of scientific operation and underground construction, the leaning tower with a height of 54 meters and a base diameter of 12.5 meters suddenly stood upright. The rectification was completed on August 25th, and the slope was reduced from 2.86m to 0.86m, and revised to 2m. 1October 25th, passed the inspection.

In order to consolidate the rectification results, reinforcement and repair were carried out. Tower foundation reinforcement, pile hoop, lime-soil reinforcement belt, waterproof penetration, tower eaves arch, careful repair, treatment closure, reinforced concrete lining, tower brake righting, tower body reinforcement, drilling hole layer by layer, tracing pole, channel steel fixation, and overall repair, following the traditional technology and adopting modern means, the original appearance, original structure, original technology and carving style of the repaired East Tower and tower eaves are rectified. The project was completed on1September 26th, 997.

On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the East Tower, Teller Si Tong is a reminder.

Yang wrote an article.

Wang Zhao Jin Shu Dan

An Rongjie Engraving

China * * * Taiyuan Municipal Committee

the people's government of taiyuan city

1April, 999

Rectification of the East Tower of Shuangta Temple

The Twin Towers are magnificent and handsome, vigorous and tall, and very beautiful. The total height of the two towers is about 56 meters, which is the highest in China. The twin towers have experienced vicissitudes, and the west tower was strengthened and maintained on 1982, and was completed on 1984 on September 26th. However, the East Tower has not been repaired for a long time, and its body is crisp, seriously tilted and crumbling. As early as June, 65438+July, 0993, recommended by experts from National Cultural Heritage Administration in China, mediated by Shanghai Cultural Management Committee, and repeatedly appointed by Taiyuan Municipal Government, Hangzhou Cao Shi Institute of Building Rectification and Reinforcement was entrusted to rescue the East Tower. However, due to the lack of geological research on the loess plateau in our special research institute for studying soft soil foundation and saving the leaning tower of Pisa, we have always declined this invitation and entrustment. 1994 65438+1October 2 1, accompanied by the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Management Committee, we made a five-day field trip to Taiyuan. We used the late night or even the whole night to consult all the materials, drawings and reports of the East Tower, and found that the tower was in danger of collapse at any time. On the third day in Taiyuan (i.e.199465438+1October 24th), an "expert technical demonstration meeting on rescuing the East Tower" was held without notice. At the meeting, we put forward a preliminary plan to rescue the East Tower, and made a speech in eight parts, which was approved by the leaders of the experts attending the meeting. We were deeply moved by some things that happened afterwards. At that time, Gu, the old director of Taiyuan Municipal People's Congress, Zhang Xisheng, the deputy mayor, and Xiao, the director of the Municipal Cultural Management Committee, came all the way to Hangzhou and invited us to save again. The governments of Shanxi Province and Taiyuan City attach great importance to the rescue of the East Tower, and list it as one of the ten practical things of the municipal party committee and municipal government. Through on-the-spot investigation, we were deeply moved by the local people and government's deep feelings for the cultural relics built by their ancestors. We also feel that as an ordinary citizen of China, we have a sense of responsibility to protect the cultural relics and historic sites of the motherland. After repeated research, we have decided that we can only move forward and there is no retreat. For the people in Shanxi and Taiyuan, it is worthwhile to take more risks and suffer more. With the strong support of the provincial party committee, the provincial government, the municipal party committee, the municipal government, experts and scholars, and the local people, the rectification of the East Tower was officially signed on June 65438+April 0995. We started construction on May 27th. 1995. After my research, the engineers and technicians headed by Li Cha worked hard and did a lot of in-depth and meticulous work. After revision, the experience meets the requirements of the contract. 19951October 20th,1May 7th, 1996, the structural reinforcement, maintenance and restoration of the East Tower completed by our institute passed the expert technical demonstration meeting for the second time.1July 6th, 1996, the contract was signed and local construction started. The project was rated as an excellent project in Shanxi Province. Cha made outstanding contributions to the rescue of the East Tower and was awarded the honorary title of honorary citizen of Taiyuan City.